Originality. It's a word often used when people are trying to express themselves and discover who they are. Ontario, Canada band THRUST describes themselves as original Rock n Roll on their first album "Thrust". Let's just say after listening to this album, 'original' is certainly one way to describe their debut.

 

"Take Off" certainly DOES take right off. This is an upbeat, absolute throwback intro track that's pretty enjoyable to listen to. It's pure 70s rock from the riffs to Regina's Janis Joplin meets Carly Simon styled vocals. "Hold Me Back" caused the lift-off of the first song to come right back down onto the runway. It's a slow, sad song. The lyrics are heartbreaking and lovely and they are sung so powerfully, everything else surrounding was unfortunately dull. "Barb E-Doll" has good intentions lyrically about societal pressures of beauty, but something was really weird about it. It didn't flow all that well; the guitars felt clunky with the fast paced vocal melody. It also just felt rushed, pacing wise. "Soot and Sapphire" has a similar rushed timing issue off and on throughout the track. I do like the Bluesy verses with the Jazzy drums, plus the totally cool Blues-Jazz melody in the short solo portion. "Hazel Eyes" is considerably different; it's a dreamy soothing ballad. There's this blissful, floating in fluffy white clouds feeling in the bright melodies of the guitar and in the vocals. It's a lovely song, even though it's a totally different vibe than the songs previous.

 

"The World is Ours" continues the emotional, dreamy ballad streak. The vocals are once again the highlight of the track though. "Gotta Stop Drinkin'" finally brings this album out of the ballads only territory. It's an odd genre change again, it's more in the 80s radio rock vein this time. It doesn't fit at all with the rest of the songs before it, truth be told. "Wait and See" is the closing track and it's once again, all over the place. It felt like 70s Rock track at first, but quickly shifted to more of an Adult Alternative Rock song circa year 1998 by the chorus. I guess that's where the Alanis Morrisette influence they mentioned on their FB page comes in eh?

 

Overall, this album was hard to delve into for a variety of reasons. I found many of the elements they were trying to incorporate together just didn't mesh. The timing felt off with the melodies they were playing, or the music didn't compliment the vocals being sung. Not to mention the clash of genres throughout the album. I, too, love a wide spectrum of music genres, but that doesn't mean that every one I enjoy can be crammed into 8 songs on the same album. My biggest issue was I honestly forgot I was listening to the same band on several different tracks because not only did the genres flip a switch, the style each musician was playing in changed too. There wasn't a certain play style or consistent element in their sound to show "Oh, this is THRUST!". It was a genre hopping smorgasbord that songs could probably stand well on their own, but all together on one album, it's a confusing mess.